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Chapter Eight is long enough that I might call it done, though it sort of just ends. I should probably manufacture a cliffhanger, which could be done easily enough, I'm just not sure I want to. Should I? It seems in keeping.
Anyway, meanwhile here's a snippet I that popped into my head which I'm hoping might work it's way into Chapter Nine or Ten, but then again it might not. Has boys doing each other's hair. Heh. ;>
"Will you help me with my hair?" Phipps had been staring into the water and idly twirling at his hair as they talked, and now he had a row of little twists that stuck out in all directions like a sunburst around his face.
Tom was a little discomfited, but kept his voice steady as he asked, "How?"
"Just take little tufts and twist them. I can do fine at the front of my head, but I won't be able to reach the back very well. My hair's getting a little long, and I thought it would be neater this way."
Tom moved to kneel behind Phipps, trying to avoid touching his back as he separated a little tuft and began to twist it. "Nobody in my family has hair like this."
"No, they wouldn't, would they? Your family must have come from Ragnarock." He paused a beat. "Begging your pardon."
"For what?"
"Well. You know what they say about people from Ragnarock."
"No." Tom thought hard. All he'd ever heard was the obvious - they were large, and they should learn to hold their temper early because they might hurt someone by accident.
"Just. Oh. Poorest of the poor. You know. The planet was very overpopulated, they were delighted to get off it by any means. Jumped at the chance to colonize. We have a lot of good workers from Ragnarock. We've done our best to educate them and they've come along wonderfully, it's said."
"Is that what's said." He continued his gentle twisting just as carefully.
"I didn't mean... But you don't seem really like the typical Ragnar. I mean, you look like them, but they always have names like Jorgensen and Karlsen and other things that begin in en. And they never use those sorts of mangled French phrases like you do."
"My father's family lived on Ragnarock for a few generations, but they were Arkaydians."
"Arkaydians?"
"Mm. Yeah. Arkaydee was another planet. It's name got changed to something else, I can't remember what. A lot of the people moved various places, wherever they could get passage to. A lot went to Ragnarock, and I suppose they married people there, but they tried to preserve their own culture. Arkaydians aren't considered Ragnars by Ragnars."
"Oh." He sat quietly, twisting his hair, looking into the water to see what he was doing.
Tom glanced over Phipps shoulder to see his expression in the reflection and it seemed that Phipps's gaze met his in the reflection, then his eyes quickly shifted a little.
"It's fun having longer hair. My Mum does her hair this way and I always liked it." Phipps changed position so that his back came in contact with Tom's thigh, and Tom shifted quickly away from the warm press, but he did not go far and could still feel the ghost of it, a field of heat around the other boy.
Anyway, meanwhile here's a snippet I that popped into my head which I'm hoping might work it's way into Chapter Nine or Ten, but then again it might not. Has boys doing each other's hair. Heh. ;>
"Will you help me with my hair?" Phipps had been staring into the water and idly twirling at his hair as they talked, and now he had a row of little twists that stuck out in all directions like a sunburst around his face.
Tom was a little discomfited, but kept his voice steady as he asked, "How?"
"Just take little tufts and twist them. I can do fine at the front of my head, but I won't be able to reach the back very well. My hair's getting a little long, and I thought it would be neater this way."
Tom moved to kneel behind Phipps, trying to avoid touching his back as he separated a little tuft and began to twist it. "Nobody in my family has hair like this."
"No, they wouldn't, would they? Your family must have come from Ragnarock." He paused a beat. "Begging your pardon."
"For what?"
"Well. You know what they say about people from Ragnarock."
"No." Tom thought hard. All he'd ever heard was the obvious - they were large, and they should learn to hold their temper early because they might hurt someone by accident.
"Just. Oh. Poorest of the poor. You know. The planet was very overpopulated, they were delighted to get off it by any means. Jumped at the chance to colonize. We have a lot of good workers from Ragnarock. We've done our best to educate them and they've come along wonderfully, it's said."
"Is that what's said." He continued his gentle twisting just as carefully.
"I didn't mean... But you don't seem really like the typical Ragnar. I mean, you look like them, but they always have names like Jorgensen and Karlsen and other things that begin in en. And they never use those sorts of mangled French phrases like you do."
"My father's family lived on Ragnarock for a few generations, but they were Arkaydians."
"Arkaydians?"
"Mm. Yeah. Arkaydee was another planet. It's name got changed to something else, I can't remember what. A lot of the people moved various places, wherever they could get passage to. A lot went to Ragnarock, and I suppose they married people there, but they tried to preserve their own culture. Arkaydians aren't considered Ragnars by Ragnars."
"Oh." He sat quietly, twisting his hair, looking into the water to see what he was doing.
Tom glanced over Phipps shoulder to see his expression in the reflection and it seemed that Phipps's gaze met his in the reflection, then his eyes quickly shifted a little.
"It's fun having longer hair. My Mum does her hair this way and I always liked it." Phipps changed position so that his back came in contact with Tom's thigh, and Tom shifted quickly away from the warm press, but he did not go far and could still feel the ghost of it, a field of heat around the other boy.
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